I call myself a communications strategist. It’s a niche role that I have carved out myself, based on my experience at the coalface of policy development. So many government and private agencies succumb to death by PowerPoint bullets. So many good ideas go to waste because they do not win the support they deserve. My job is to craft, to hone and to chisel your message, to the point of clear delivery. It’s to make you the most effective employee you can be.

Today I am a teacher, a mentor and a writer, working across the public sector. I am also an author and journalist in my own right, with a portfolio spanning the gamut from newspaper articles to industry publications.

I began my career in information management as an instructional and research librarian, drawing on my skills in project management and client service. It was here that I first saw the need for a new kind of strategic awareness – a grasp of the well-crafted message. My knack for cutting through complexity was often sought, leading me eventually to the post of full-time strategic editor in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Today, I work with policy officers at all levels across the APS to create clear, convincing and accessible communiqués. I teach medium neutral best practice principles of communication including:

Information ArchitectureEven the best evidence and analysis misses its target if stakeholders can’t locate it.

• How to structure information so that finding everything and anything is structured, logical, and intuitive within documents. Layout and design are critical elements.

Document designDocuments that are easy to read and understand—and that illuminate the necessary or desired action— serve your stakeholders well. Particularly your time-poor stakeholders!

• How to design documents that distil complex information down to their essential purpose and structure documents for maximum usability.

Plain languageClarity builds trust and authority that you know your stuff.

• How to make the complex clear with simplified, action-focused language.

Data visualisationWhen data becomes real information, it enables better decision-making.

• How to create graphical displays of data that convey ideas and implications with clarity.

I am passionate about my vocation and proud to help you see your true potential.

Jennifer Campbell

Deputy Secretary of the Commonwealth Department of Industry, Dr Subho Banerjee, on working with Jen Campbell:

For more than five years now, I’ve relied on Jen to work with policy officers; not only on the logic and rigour of their arguments, but also on the communication of those arguments.

So often, what comes to me is technically sound, but not appropriate for communicating outside of that group of technical experts. Just giving people access to data isn’t enough – we’ve got an obligation to communicate a story about that piece of evidence or data.

And that’s where Jen comes in. I send her to work with officers and I am implicitly asking her to perform a tricky role: she has to be flexible in her training style and, at the same time, a rigorous defender of high standards.

I can see the difference in the communication products after Jen has worked with policy officers. Jen is exceptional at her job.

Qualifications, Awards and memberships:

Tertiary Qualifications:• Graduate Diploma of Library and Information

Management

• Bachelor of Arts (Majoring in English Literature, History and Spanish)

Vocational Training:• Certificate in Editing and Proofreading

• Certificate IV in Government Project Management

• Certificate IV in Training and Workplace Assessment

• Certificate III Training program in User and Technical Documentation

• Trainer – Train-the-Trainer in Made to stick methodology

Memberships:• Steering Group Member – HC Coombs

Policy Forum: APS Policy Visualisation Network

• Member – International Association of Business Communicators

• Assessor - Institute of Public Administration Australia 2011-12 Annual Report Awards

Jennifer Campbell